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Philip Pullman's next novel, a book he calls an "equel" to his acclaimed His Dark Materials trilogy, will be called La Belle Sauvage.

The novel, which enjoyed by children as well as adults, was announced in February, but the identity of the boy at its heart was kept a secret – until now.

La Belle Sauvage is named after a canoe owned by Malcolm Polstead, an 11-year-old born more than a decade before His Dark Materials protagonist Lyra Belacqua. Polstead, lives in The Trout Inn, an Oxford pub situated by the river Thames. His dæmon, the shape-shifting animal companions which accompany humans everywhere in Pullman's fantasy series, is called Asta.

An extract from chapter 10 of La Belle Sauvage sees Polstead meet Lord Asriel, the mercurial figure who is central to the His Dark Materials trilogy who Lyra thinks is her uncle, but is later revealed to be her father. He is barred from seeing Lyra because he killed a man.

Dakota Blue Richards plays Lyra, right, and Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter, left, in the film adaptation of His Dark MaterialsCredit:
Laurie Sparham/New Line Cinema

Asriel comes to Polstead for help: he wants to see his infant daughter who is being protected at a nearby convent. If he visits her by day, she will be taken into child protection services, but Asriel wants to say goodbye before going off on a trip.

Polstead, Pullman says in a press release, will feature more heavily in later volumes of The Book of Dust, the name given to the author's new trilogy, of which La Belle Sauvage is the first novel. Polstead is not a new character in Pullman's Oxford, but "had a walk-on part" in another novel. "I’m not saying which", he said, "and in any case you have to look carefully."

A stage adaptation of His Dark MaterialsCredit:
Ivan Kyncl

Other new clues about The Book of Dust include the fact that "some of the story is set during a massive flood" and there is another new academic central to the story: a woman named Dr Relf, who is an acquaintance of both Lord Asriel and Malcolm.

But, as Pullman stated when the book was announced in February, “Lyra is at the centre of the story". More details about how, and in what capacity, will be released ahead of La Belle Sauvage's publication on October 19.